Correlation Between Light Exposure and Sleep Quality of Medical Students in UMY

Context :

Sleep is interpreted as a state of unconsciousness that can be aroused by sensory stimulation.1

Everyone has their own time of sleep according to their daily activities. Someone who has a lot of
activities at night and exposed to the light such as light from the lamp will have bad quality and
quantity of sleep. Sleep quality is sleep satisfaction which can be measured through several aspects
such as the quantity of sleep, the barriers when starting sleep, the time to wake up, sleep efficiency,
and disturbing conditions during sleep. Bad quality of sleep can affect the balance of physiological
and psychological.2 Bad quality of sleep can cause anxiety, declining memory, increasing body
weight, and causing diabetic disease. The process of sleep and wake up are affected by the circadian
system.3 Light is the main zeitgeber (external factor) for the circadian system. The function of light in
the circadian system is for producing melatonin which can affect the process of sleep and wake up.
This is because of light influences alertness, body temperature and melatonin hormone production.4
Light information will be projected to the circadian pacemaker in the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic
nucleus.5

Issue :

Light exposure such as from the lamp can significantly suppress melatonin production and cause
sleep problems. Bad quality of sleep has a bad effect on the physical condition of a teenager. The
result of research that has been done by Cauter and his friends shows that lack of sleep can disturb
the metabolism of carbohydrates and can increase the risk of diabetic disease. Bad quality of sleep
because of unnecessary sleep can also cause an accident in highways.6 Another research from Ryan
Cho shows that the majority of respondents who use light during sleep has a bad quality of sleep.7
According to Burgard's research women are more likely to have a bad quality of sleep because of
hormonal changes that can disrupt sleep quality.8 Rista and her friends also did a research on 2015
that shows 25,6% respondents who have a good quality of sleep, 15,9% they woke up in fresh
condition, 20,3% rarely wake up at night, 25.2% sleep about 7 hours per day, 48% sleep soundly and
18.7% feel strong when doing activities.6

Gap :

There are still fewer studies focusing on the correlation between sleep quality and light exposure in
medical students. Since medical students have a lot of tasks, exams, and activities and all of that
must be completed in limited times. So, they are more likely to do their stuff at night and being
exposed in a long time by the light at night.

Research goals :

This study was conducted to find out : (a) the effect of light exposure with sleep quality of medical
students in UMY (b) the sleeping patterns of medical students in UMY

Research question :

What are the effects of light exposure on the sleep quality of medical students in UMY?

What are the sleeping patterns of medical students in UMY?

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